Bank of America has reached a settlement in a huge lawsuit that involves most large retail banks in the United States. B of A has agreed to pay $410 million to settle a class action lawsuit over aggressive overdraft fee practices. Similar suits are being filed against other banks. Dozens of banks sued for account

No, it’s not an April Fool’s joke — Whipped Beaten Culinary Works has come out with a cookbook that will definitely make your eyes pop. Billing itself as “The Most Hilarious cookbook ever published,” the Whipped Beaten Culinary Works cookbook is the result of a few alcohol-laden evenings of three friends in Chicago. The pictures

Bloom Energy is a California company that has developed a fuel cell called the Bloom Box. The Bloom Box supplies clean energy off the grid, but has been too expensive for widespread use. To solve that problem, Bloom Energy has created the Bloom Electrons program to eliminate the Bloom Box’s upfront costs. The Bloom Electrons

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have banded together to challenge PayPal for online payment service superiority, reports the Associated Press. A new mobile payments service called clearXchange now makes it easier for consumers to make person-to-person payments via a mobile number or email address. The trio of U.S. banking giants anticipates that

Most businesses need a location in order to operate, which means purchasing real estate is necessary. Numerous programs exist to help businesses obtain funding to buy land on which to build or lease, and in St. Louis, Mo., one such program is the St. Louis BOOST loan program. A BOOST loan gives the borrower a

The deadline for the Federal Reserve to decide on whether to institute a debit card fee cap is in July. The Senate failed to extend the deadline in a close vote, and it appears the Fed will have to make a decision. The cap could have serious implications for consumers. Federal Reserve has weeks to

The Small Business Administration has been charged with helping businesses weather the recession, and money is running out. The 7(a) lending program provides loans, personal and large, to small businesses around the country. The program, which was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is currently in a holding pattern, waiting for more money.

Apple has announced it will offer subscriptions to digital media and music content through the Apple App Store. Apple subscriptions are an extension of a service Apple launched recently for Rupert Murdoch’s “The Daily,” an iPad newspaper. Most publishers haven’t yet committed to Apple subscriptions because of the company’s restrictions and customary 30 percent cut.

New jobs during a recession are always good news, and the Goodlettsville, Tenn., company Dollar General Corp. has plans to expand. According to a company press release, Dollar General plans to open 625 new convenience stores across the company’s 35-state operating area, plus three new states: Connecticut, Nevada and New Hampshire. It is estimated that

Maine Magistrate Judge John Rich has ruled that despite the fact that a bank allowed online hackers to steal more than $300,000 from a customer’s account, the bank is not responsible for the lost money. According to BankInfoSecurity, the judge said the plaintiff, a construction company, should have done a better job of protecting its

Three states have qualified to get big money from the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department has infused $53.4 million into lending programs in Connecticut, Vermont and Missouri. All three states have created programs that are intended to stimulate $10 worth of small business lending for every $1 invested. The Small Business Jobs Act Small businesses

The Federal Reserve has announced it will cap interchange fees, or swipe fees, at 21 cents per transaction. The fees are now half what merchants have been charged on average, but the nation’s central bank has also announced that the cap will not take effect until October. Swipe fee takes effect in October Last year,

Cold winter winds have sent many people scrambling indoors for the holidays, where the warmth of humming electric heaters make Jack Frost a distant memory. Unfortunately, electric space heaters are not infallible, as more than 2 million Walmart customers have discovered. According to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission press release, a Walmart heater recall

Finding the right software developer for your project can be an intimidating task, but Securenext is a United States based company that takes all the guesswork out of getting your project done right, on time and within budget. Securenext provides offshore development in PHP, .NET, Ruby on Rails, iPhone OS, and more – allowing you

U.S. businesses are benefiting from a huge pool of unemployed workers who are willing to work for free to gain experience. The rise of unpaid labor has some analysts concerned that the phenomenon will further undermine the anemic labor market. However, the Labor Department has strict rules about unpaid internships that bring legal risks to

The process of putting a new law into practice can sometimes take a while. A new two-year Small Business Administration program is taking longer than usual. With one-quarter of the available time already gone, the program has yet to get rules or a process. SBA refinancing program During late 2010, a new Small Business Administration

In a joint announcement today, Microsoft’s Bing search engine and Facebook have announced a partnership. Bing will integrate social network search into its personalized results. Microsoft is hoping the Facebook partnership will help it overtake Google. Facebook partnership for Bing Facebook will now be integrating Bing search results and visa-versa. Microsoft and Facebook outlined two